Do I HAVE to let the father of my child visit?

I have set consistant times and days for him to visit my son who is 3 months old. Sometimes he comes to see him, sometimes he doesn't. When he does visit, he stays for a hour both days. When he has something planned, he doesn't come see my son and he doesn't schedule another time to see him. As of now, he has no rights since he chose not to be on the birth certificate. I am really getting tired of making my son available to him and taking time out of my day for him to visit and he either stands him up or blows him off because he has plans. If I stop the visits can he take me to court and get custody of my child? I am worried about being looked at in a negative way by the courts IF he takes me for visitation. What can I do to protect myself and my son if he takes me to court?

The first question I have for you is this: Is he in fact the biological father of your son? If not, then you have nothing to worry about. If he is, he certainly could take you to court, ask the judge to establish paternity (make an official declaration based on dad's admission of paternity) and set custody/visitation/parenting time. I don't see how he could possibly get sole physical custody, though, particularly since you have obviously been by far the primary caretaker since the child's birth. The most likely scenario is as close to a 50-50 split as reasonably possible. If he is the father, I would not deny him time with the child; however, I would require him to initiate any and all requests to see Junior and be consistent and reliable in following through on scheduled visitation. If he doesn't, you can always take him to Court to get an order regarding custody and visitation. If you are not 100% sure who the bio dad is, you can ask the court to order a DNA test so that you can be sure it is or isn't this man. Best of luck to you!

This post should not be construed as formal legal advice or the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.<br />
<a href="http://www.joanbundy.com" target="_blank">Joan M. Bundy, Attorney at Law, Casa Grande, Arizona</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;